Ryan, (Question is paraphrased for posting)

I am looking to better understand how to source for mid level sales reps: 2-7 years in commercial, biotech, medical device and pharma using Boolean strings to target resumes on Google and profiles on LinkedIn.

Thanks for asking a great question! There are many different techniques to use here, but no one size fits all solution. I took a few moments to look at your company site and saw that you focus on sales recruiting. So before I get into some key techniques you can try using, let’s step outside of recruiting to better understand this response. (more…)

I was speaking the other day to a friend of mine who happens to be a sourcer. We got into a conversation about searching on Google outside of your typical Boolean strings. Now I am one for creating a nice strong string to run against a req. But I am also the one to look for the most return with the least amount of NEW work.

In order to accomplish this I tend to read a lot and keep great notes as to my sourcing strategies for my business at that specific time. String searching, networking, text messaging… Whatever the approach was I track for results or my ROR. (Return on Recruitment)

Did you know that when you are entering in search terms and phrases with Google, most of your term entered are forgotten? That’s right! If you don’t know already you do now. Google has algorithms that detect commonly used words such as: I, do, where, how… you get the point. These are called stop words. Stop words are simple words that hinder the relevance of your results.

For example: if you are looking for some information regarding layoffs, and you typed in “how many layoffs does merk anticipate?” Google will only search the following: Merk layoffs anticipate. Unless of course you quote the phrase. Either way your results get struck and are limited. In most cases “anticipated” would be left out as well since it holds no relevance to the indexed results.

As you get deep into search and sourcing for candidates, you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle not understanding terms. Forget Websters or un-targeted google searches. Try this technique below. It will save you some time and effort in keepig up with your converstion.

When you include “define,” “what is,” or “what are” in your query in front of a word, phrase, or acronym, Google displays one Glossary definition above your search results. Google Glossary provides definitions for words, phrases, and acronyms that Google finds on web pages. The Glossary is good for finding definitions for terms that aren’t in some dictionaries, e.g., slang words, technical terms, ethnic words and other specialized terms.

In February of 2003, Google acquired Pyra Labs, a company that makes it easy for you to create your own blog. What’s a blog? Let’s ask Google to define the term.

So in review if you are looking to find a quick definition use this command below: